Inner Animal
by fulloflightandlove
Summary: Eight years of running later, Asha is back with a temper like no other and in SHIELD custody, fighting not for her survival, but for theirs. Might turn into M, depends on how brave I am.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter ONE- I Dare You To Move

_Welcome to the planet_

_Welcome to existence_

_Everyone's here_

_Everyone's here_

_Everybody's watching you now_

_Everybody waits for you now_

_What happens next_

_What happens next_

_[Chorus]_

_I dare you to move_

_I dare you to move_

_I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor_

_I dare you to move_

_I dare you to move_

_Like today never happened_

_Today never happened before_

_Welcome to the fallout_

_Welcome to resistance_

_The tension is here_

_Tension is here_

_Between who you are and who you could be_

_Between how it is and how it should be_

_[Chorus]_

_Maybe redemption has stories to tell_

_Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell_

_Where can you run to escape from yourself?_

_Where you gonna go?_

_Where you gonna go?_

_Salvation is here_

_I dare you to move_

_I dare you to move_

_I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor_

_I dare you to move_

_I dare you to move_

_Like today never happened_

_Today never happened_

_Today never happened_

_Today never happened before_

_Dare you to move- Switchfoot_

I wasn't running away. I refused to even entertain the thought that I was afraid of the people who were seeking me. That would only make me upset and nothing good ever came out of me being upset even if I couldn't recall exactly what happened. No, I wasn't running, I was keeping my distance and biding my time until I was…caught was such a strong word, retrieved was a better one.

I wasn't running away, I was biding my time until I was collected and frankly, the distance that I was keeping was more for their benefit than mine.

That distance that I had been oh so carefully keeping was violated as I came awake. My eyes were blurred and unfocused with an intense desire to continue resting. I was like that in the morning, it was part of my _condition. _I never got enough sleep, if I could sleep for a week, I would. But as I opened my eyes and saw the barrel of a gun staring at me in the face, I found myself alert very quickly.

The man behind was young and from what I could tell by the other beefy looking hench men lurking around my carefully arranged Manhattan studio, I could tell he was no one of importance, none of them were. They were just pawns in an endless game that didn't guarantee a wanted outcome.

"Sit up slowly." He ordered me and I humored him. He must have read my file, he was shaking like a new born foal. I was careful to follow his orders, I had dealt with people like him before, if I so much as made a abrupt, unexpected movement he would shoot me. The shot wouldn't kill me but digging out the bullet hurt like a bitch.

I could hear handcuffs being retrieved from his belt and waiting until I saw him remove one of his hands, apparently his trigger hand judging by the way he held his gun and only went he had his arm fully extended towards me, I reacted. I was fast, inhumanly fast and had him disarmed and across the room in seconds. The rest of the meat heads charged at me and one by one, I claimed their consciousness. Even in these circumstances, I never killed. At least, I never killed when I was aware of it.

When there were only two men out of the original seven left, I fled out of my patio seeing my opening in their hesitation when they saw me take out their team mates. Fifteen floors up, I scaled a series of fire escapes downward until I was only three or four flights up before free falling. I crouched low, allowing my knees and legs to receive the shock from the harsh jump and in the next second, began sprinting. There was nothing of importance in my studio, I never kept an ID and never applied for any credit cards. My clothing options were meager and I had no problem sticking with the clothes on my back for the next couple of days. Seeing as I was usually tight on cash, I slept in my workout shorts and a loose fitting tank top. Going without a bra was going to be uncomfortable but I could deal, I've survived worse.

Sailing over a chain link fence and after I nearly got pancaked by a taxi cab, I slowed my pace in a dark alley, looking around and extending my senses outward. As soon as I had left the building I had been aware that I was being followed. The curious thing was that compared to the gun in my face I initially woke up to, this new threat seemed to be ten times as dangerous.

Inside, in the back of my mind I could feel my inner…other, growl and bare its teeth. It wanted a piece out of whatever dared to attempt to cause us harm, to show it just exactly what the word harm meant.

"No!" I hissed quietly to myself. I backed up against a cold and damp alley wall and sunk down until I was hidden from the entrance view by the shadow of the dumpster and began breathing easy, trying to reason with myself.

_We can't kill them, only immobilize them. Spilling blood is not satisfying. _I thought to myself. My other, disagreed adamantly, apparently there was severe satisfaction in killing those who made you their prey. I don't know how long the inner battle lasted before I won, but when I stood up and began looking around for another route to continue my way out of Manhattan; I felt eyes on my back. Whatever had been following me was practically on top of me.

The slight _WHIRR_ of something sailing through the air was the only warning I had. I turned quickly and with one hand, grasped the arrow that was aimed at my shoulder and split it in half in my hand. I had no time to glance around for a marksman, two more arrows were shot in succession and I was on the move again.

As I ran and occasionally dodged arrows, I wondered how many S.H.I.E.L.D had brought in this time. Close to the Manhattan bridge, soon I would be able to cross or even dive into the water, being what I am, I had very powerful lungs and could hold my breath underwater for five to seven minutes.

I was halfway down the road that would lead me directly to the Manhattan bridge when I noticed that the arrows had stop coming, I wasn't naïve enough to think that he or she had run out of arrows. I didn't even see the shield that was my undoing when I figured it and turned the very last corner, into the bridge. I was being herded.

It a blur of blue and red, maybe even a little white. _How patriotic. _With enough force to knock the wind out of me which was pretty impressive, it slammed into my gut, sending me hurling into a brick building. Pain shot up my spine and combining that with the instense pain in my gut, I couldn't breathe. Gasping and coughing so hard, I was nearly vomiting I desperately tried to remain calm. My pulse raced, and that was fine, it was my anger that would do it, that would kill everyone. My…curse only reacted to my anger as I have learned over the years. Any other intense emotion was fine; panic, worry, even lust. Anger was the only culprit to my change and I was currently harboring a boat load of it.

"We don't want to hurt you." The voice was deep and masculine. It radiated a man who was comfortable in his own skin and knew he could defend himself. In an effort not to be a complete sitting duck, I slowly got to my feet and winced at the feeling of cracked bones and torn skin being repaired. I felt a gash I knew was on my face close and smiled at the amazed look the boy in red white a blue attempted to hide with a very promising poker face.

He was tall and lean. His body portrayed that of a runner and a fighter. If the stars and stripes wasn't a dead giveaway, I don't know what was. Promptly, with every ounce of anger and pain I felt, I laughed.

"You're kidding me, right?" The man who the People of the United States of America knew as Captain America arched an eyebrow, or at least I think he did. Half of the mask was covering his face.

"No ma'am, I kid you not, we don't want to-"

"Not about that." I said, cutting him off. "They are attempting to recapture me and they send _you_? Mr. I fight for freedom and peace? Dear God, I think I'm offended." I watched as his jaw clenched once and then twice. He breathed in deeply before letting it out and continued talking.

"My orders are to apprehend you and bring you into headquarters; I assume you know just which headquarters I'm talking about?"

"And if I refuse?" I asked, crossing my arms. He mirrored my stance and stood stalk straight, his chest puffing outwards. Even though the suit was slightly baggy, you could still see that muscle definition in his chest and biceps which being that I am of the opposite sex, was distracting. I forced myself to listen though which I was immensely proud of.

"I have been given orders to apprehend you and take you into headquarters using whatever force necessary." In the back of my mind, I felt my other growl and bare its teeth again. For the first time in many, many years, we were actually in accordance.

"Well, Captain, I'd like to see you tr-" I was unable to finish, seeing as something lodged itself into the side of my neck. Quickly, I pulled it out and was only able to see the arrow doubled as a projectile hypodermic needle and a very small empty syringe was involved in the contraption before I began to get very dizzy.

"At least I had a hell of a run." I muttered to myself before I keeled over, blacking out.


	2. Resistances and Necklaces

Chapter TWO- Chop and Change

an innocent child in new orleans  
a simple girl from simple means  
walked the rails  
rode her thumb  
she hitched a ride with everyone

the regular, she'd rearrange  
the girl knew how to chop and change  
chop and change  
chop and change  
chop and change  
chop and change

took a job workin late  
jackin cars from out of state  
she found no love in this town  
so she'd never mess around  
had no luck, but aint it strange  
the girl knew how to chop and change  
chop and change  
chop and change  
chop and change  
chop and change

Chop and Change by The Black Keys

Even till this day, twenty nine and six months, I have never had a hangover. Its not that I have never drank, believe me, when you live in a world like mine you hit the bottle of Jack as hard as you can, you crave the oblivion drinking usually brings to other people.

Keyword? Usually. Since I have the 'oh so wonderful' privilege of not exactly being 'Usual', i don't have the same reaction as others would to copious amounts of Alcohol. Being that as it may, that doesn't mean I couldn't be affected, it just took a lot to get a reaction. That fact had made me cocky and me being cocky was what most likely got my ass strapped to what felt like a hospital gurney. Whatever the syringe had been filled with, it had been powerful.

Still groggy I was trying to gather my wits about me. I could hear people talking but I couldn't make sense of the words. All I could feel were sensations. For instance, the sensation of the rough material of the leather buckles holding my wrists and ankles was getting on my nerves as it grated against my skin uncomfortably. The material of the gurney was a rough thing and duplicated the sensation of ants crawling along my skin where it was exposed.

"So this is her?" I stopped moving immediately when I heard footsteps approaching. I remained completely still and regulated my breathing. I wasn't in the mood for conversation and I still needed to figure out where exactly where I was and how much danger I was in if I was in any at all.

"She doesn't seem like much of a threat. How old is she? Eighteen, nineteen?" I wanted to sneer at the female's incredulity. I didn't look that young, maybe twenty. My other didn't take too kindly to the former comment and I could feel her begin to stir pushing slightly for control.

_Easy._ I thought. Slowly, she settled back down and I regained full control.

"She may look young Natasha but you didn't see the way she moved. It took Steve to distract her long enough to get one of my arrows to land on her." So this was the marksman. I resisted the temptation to open my eyes and see exactly what he looked like.  
"I can believe she's fast. She's built like a runner, I just can't believe she can cause as much damage as Bruce. Her file says that back in two thousand three she killed thirty people in under three minutes in a fit of temper a couple months after her escape.

It was thirty two actually. Not that I was proud of it. I just felt that you should get tyour facts straight when you're talking about someone.

"Thirty two, actually." A new player, another female said. There was a lengthy pregnant pause as footsteps came closer and I could feel three pairs of eyes on me.

"Excuse me, Agent Hill?" The previous female, Natasha i believe the marksman referred to her as.

"Back in oh three, two and a half months after her escape she killed thirty two people. When S.H.I.E.L.D got there to clean up the mess, the bodies weren't bodies anymore, they were pieces. I remember that day clearly, I had never seen so much blood back then."

There was another pause and again, I felt eyes on me. I nearly opened my own eyes, just to look back but refrained. A part of me, the wilder part could feel that I was in an enclosed space and as soon as I sensed a door leading to the outside was opened, I knew that would be my only chance at an escape. I needed the element of surprise to do that.

"How long until we land Agent Hill?" The marksman asked. I inwardly groaned. We were on a plane. I hated heights.

"An hour or so, we are close but a storm close to headquarters is slowing us down slightly." Footsteps moved away from me and when I felt I was alone once again, I began maneuvering my wrist. My strength was far from where it usually was, most likely the drugs were to blame but every second, I could feel myself getting stronger.

_Use my strength. I can free us. Your consciousness clouded, mine not._

"No." I muttered quietly. _I will not risk the lives of everyone on board._ I continued to pull at the bindings and slowly, they began to loosen. I would focus on the hands now, I could just rip the ones off my ankles when my hands were loose.

It took me a long time to stretch the leather being that it was very thick. Long enough, that when my bindings were loose enough for me to pull my hands out, I felt the plane land with a light _THUNK._ I was still groggy and that wasn't good.

Laying still like a statue, I listened as Agent Hill spoke.

"Headquarters, this is Agent Maria Hill, we have landed and have the precious cargo in custody and ready for transfer, is Thunder ready to aid?" There was a slight static before a voice answered over the radio line.

"Welcome Back Agent Hill, Thunder is headed your way now. ETA, three minutes." Ice filled my veins as I heard a door being opened and the scent of the outside fill the cabin. I was still feeling the effects of the drug and would be taken in very easily if I attempted to fight now.

_Let me help. No capture. No capture._

I didn't want that either. Flashes of white coat, tubes with thick substances that stung, and needles that constantly poked at my body made my decision for me. I prayed I didn't kill anyone, that I remained in control. I could feel strength rush into my muscles and my consciousness clear.

My eyes snapped open wildly and in the warped reflection on the metal roof, I could see my eyes were no longer a normal green but a luminous gold. Footsteps approached my gurney and I turned my head at the exact second to meet the eyes of a tall slender woman with short brown hair. She scent told me she was Maria Hill. She opened her mouth to speak but I was on her in the next second, grabbing her by the neck, I slammed her forehead against the metal bar of the gurney, knocking her out cold.

From there…it was chaos.

I slipped my wrists out and quickly ripped away the bands on my ankles. Three soldiers were on me when I stepped off the gurney but my other half wasn't having that. I resisted her attempts to snap their necks like chickens and instead landed blows against their heads or vital joints, immobilizing them. I hadn't spilled blood since Oh three and I wasn't about to now.

Rushing out of the plane, I squinted my eyes against the harsh sun and began sprinting towards the opposite direction of the large official looking building. I was nearing towards what looked like a set of stairs a quarter of a mile away from the plane when a familiar blue disk whirled at me, logging itself in the side of one of the planes I was running against, I moved to run in the other direction but three arrows landing just in front of me forced me to pause.

I looked towards their originated direction and saw the Captain and a shorter man in a sleeveless leather getup were slowly approaching me. The captain had his fists extended and the marksman had another arrow ready pointed at yours truly.

I raised my hands in the air in the universal gesture of ' I mean no harm' They approached slowly.

"Alright, you win." I lied. Relaxing slightly, the Captain moved to grab me.

"Steve, no!" The marksman barked. In a flurry of movements, I grasped the shield that was lodged into the plane and ripped it out. The marksman released his arrow and I used the shield to deflect it and slam it up against the side of the captains head. He stumbled and the marksman pulled out a gun.

Rushing him, I allowed his shots to ricochet off of the shield and moved to also slam the shield up against him too. He caught it just in time and in a show of strength pushed back. I released the shield and pushed it to the side, allowing his momentum to make him stumble.

His back to me, I snatched his bow and with a flick of the wrist extended it. When he turned back, I grasped the lower end of the bow and slammed it against his face, forcing him to stumble harder. A swift kick to the gut and he wasn't an issue for the moment. I threw the bow a few yards away and moved to run again only to be intercepted by the captain again.

His shield in his hands. He braced himself for my impact and I growled, barring my fangs which I knew were elongated.

"You're not taking me back there." I snarled. His face was serious and intense as he spoke.

"I have my orders." He moved forward and I attempted to dodge his movement to get around him but one of his hands managed to get around my upper arm and pulled me back. Harshly, he flung me against the side of the plane. He was trying to knock the wind out of me again. I watched as he moved to launch the shield at me and at the very last second used my others strength to launch myself up into the air, allowing his shield to skim dangerously close to me.

Landing solidly, I smirked cockily at him only to have the shield hit me against the back. I rolled with the proverbial punches and ended up where I wanted to be, near the stairs. Without a glance back at the Captain, I took the stairs as fast as I could and ended up at a lower level that seemed pretty empty running to the edge of the platform, I looked for something solid I could possibly land on to get out but forced my progress to halt as I saw just where I was. Up in the air. Above the ocean. A good mile and a half above the ocean. UP. IN. THE. AIR. Did I mention I was afraid of heights?

I scrambled backwards in a desperate attempt to get solid ground and felt my other growl at my weakness. Images flashed through my mind and I huddled against one of the planes, trying to find a spot I could hide away in. The plane, it was supposed to had been safe. The smoke, the crash. I clapped my hands against my ears as I hear the people screaming around me in panic. No one could find their loved ones, where were my parents, where was my brother? Brother?

"Carter." I whispered to myself and curled tighter into myself. I grasped the long chain around my neck only to freeze, where had my chain gone? In panic, I patted my pockets and around my neck but couldn't find my necklace. A necklace with a small pendant, it was one of the things that allowed me to stay calm. I began to really freak out. Usually, panic was not a problem but when I allowed my other out of her cage as I had done, any intense emotion could set off the change.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I chanted and began my breathing exercises. I could feel my other taking control slowly. It had been years since I had had an incident, I didn't need this. I was nearly calm when an explosion shook the plane I was hiding against and the plane was ripped away.

A stalky blonde haired man was approaching me slowly and when he reached me, he grabbed my upper arm and yanked me to my feet.

"Found her." He squeezed hard and attempted to grasp my other arm. I didn't like being man handled and this was no exception. I pushed him away from me, hissing.

"Let me go!" I snarled. He continued to grab at me and I could feel my temper getting worse. I needed that necklace and now.

"I wish not to hurt you but If you continue entertaining these circumstances, I will have no choice in the matter." I felt my heart race and my teeth ache. Stupid man, I didn't want to kill him

"My necklace!" I screeched at him. I felt my bones begin to shift. A small device caught my attention next to his ear and I reached for it, knowing exactly who was on the other end. He attempted to stop me but after grappling for a minute of two, I was able to get the microphone next to my lips.

"I don't know what you did to my necklace Fury but if I don't have it right now, I am going to change and you and I both know what happens when I change!" Everything seemed to pause then except for the big blonde man. Apparently, he didn't get the memo.

"Please." I begged as he moved me so I was unable to pull away from his hold. I could feel the muscles in my body conforming to something, other. I was fighting as hard as I could to fight the change but I was losing miserably. She had the upper hand and was using it to her every advantage. As clear as day, like water in a dry desert I heard a familiar darkly commanding voice snarl "Someone get her that damn necklace!"

I could only hope they got to me in time.

_Please God. _I inwardly begged. _Please._


	3. New Digs And A Murder Charge

Chapter THREE

My world was blacking out against my will again for the second time this week and believe me, it gets old pretty quickly. Dark spots were filling my vision and i felt the signature pressure of the change all over my body. I prayed to whatever god was listening that i got a way out or at least i didn't kill anyone. Apparently, the big man had been listening.

Something cool and hard was placed into the palm of my left hand and with an immense amount of relief; i recognize the texture and shape as my locket. My vision cleared somewhat and i was able to open it after some fumbling. It was a medium size thing. The size of a large strawberry it was flat, round, and in the shape of a heart and inside was my proverbial ticket out of this mess of a situation. Well the dire portion anyways. I placed two flat, tiny pills underneath my tongue and continue my breathing exercises.

Inhale. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Exhale. Inhale 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Exhale. Inhale. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 exhale.

The muscle cramping began to ease and i felt my extended teeth retract back into my gums turning from sharp to flat. Felt my other being forced back into her cage and when and only when i felt i had full control, i opened my eyes. Apparently everyone had been watching me. Around me, figures stood huddled around my panting form. One of which looked very familiar.

"Hey nick." I said. My voice was rough with tension that was continuing to ease and i had to clear it a few times before i spoke again. The man in question raised his eye brows at me, dropped to his haunches so he was eye level with me, and frowned.

"I haven't seen you since oh three and when i do see you, you have to be strapped to a gurney and transported by air where you attack my soldiers and new team. You nearly lose control and all you have to say is me 'hey nick'?"

I paused, thinking my answer over. The question in itself was rhetorical but i answered anyway.

"How about...hey dad?" It came out like a question. Everyone else around me gasped and looked towards nick. A man clad in a metal suit and sporting a nicely trimmed goatee busted out laughing.

"Dad? Oh kid, i feel for you." Nick fury extended a hand out to me to help me up. I accepted his help and gently, once i was balanced on my feet, i pushed him away so i could move backwards, away from the group. I refastened my necklace around my neck and moved to start walking. A hand on my lower back followed me though and Captain America pushed me lightly back into the middle of the group. Fury placed a stern hand on my shoulder and frowned at me. I knew that frown.

"No. No way in hell. Sorry fury, the answer is no." I said adamantly. His grip tightened and he leaned forward slightly so we were eye to eye.

"The way i see it, you have no choice in the matter. We are five hundred feet above the ground and still rising by the second where we will ultimately stop at a rousing seven thousand feet. You can leave if you like but I'm pretty sure you haven't learned to fly since the last time i saw you." I frowned at him but he didn't respond to my peeved expression. Instead, he stared at me in the eye for a few moments before standing straight and looking at the prospects around us.

"Team, i would like you to meet our newest temporary prisoner on board, my god daughter. Asha Clark." More gasp ensued. I glanced at him, slightly unnerved.

"Why exactly am I your prisoner, I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything to catch your attention, I've been minding my own business. What is there to hold me for?" Fury attempted to grasp my upper arm again but I wrenched it away from his grasp. I was still weak from todays… activities but I was strong enough to keep myself where I wanted; for the most part anyways.

He glanced at someone over my shoulder and in the next second my hands were wrenched behind me and bindings were placed on my wrists. I struggled when I saw the blonde haired and blue eyed behemoth of a man who had been the last to catch up with me. I sighed loudly and allowed him to push me past Fury and towards the building that held SHIELD headquarters. This guy wasn't human and had the scent of raw power coming off of him in droves. I wasn't strong enough to fight him and win; I would only be causing myself harm I could potentially avoid.

"It's nice you see you too Fury." I called over my shoulder. Footsteps trailed us as my warden and I moved closer to a massive metal door I imagined was a version of their front door. It was opened by an Agent that appeared from behind me and a light shove had me descending a short set of stairs. I gawked noticeably when we were fully in and the door closed behind us. Apparently since two thousand three SHIELD had been getting some serious upgrades. I took in the insane amount of people manning computers and shouting small bits of staff jargon I wasn't even going to try and comprehend.

Fury appeared from behind me and scaled a tall set of stairs towards an upper level that looked like a control station. I snorted and wondered if he had his own throne up there too.

"Take her to the prepared cell. I want her wound cleaned and bandaged and awaiting for my arrival." A series of "Yes sir." was said from behind me and I felt myself taken away from the blonde behemoth and into the hands of two others I guessed to be agents. One of which I was slightly familiar with; the female who had commented on my physical appearance. Natasha I believe her name was.

The headquarters was nothing short of a maze. Something I would definitely expect out of someone like Fury. It was a while before we reached anywhere…productive. Natasha moved ahead of me when we reached an official looking door and swiped a key card and the door opened, revealing a place very familiar.

I barked out a laugh when I was shoved inside. The room was stark white and completely bare of any frivolities except a bed and a connecting bathroom. The bed wasn't even that big and from what I remember, should feel like one of those very stiff couches no one really liked to sleep on but enjoyed having in the house. It was a high end prison cell that doubled as an interrogation room. During my stay here, after my parent and brother had passed away, I had been thoroughly familiar with this room considering the amount of episodes I was having back then. The walls were damn near indestructible from what I remember and being that it had no windows it had been the perfect place to ride out my temper tantrums.

"Home sweet home." I muttered. I noticed that the bindings stayed on my hands even when the other agent released me. Natasha began walking out of the room with the agent in tow when I began looking around.

"A medic should be here within the next few minutes." I smiled to myself and turned to stare at her back.

"Natasha." I called. She paused in mid step and turned back to look at me. She was a beautiful woman and judging by the way she carried herself; both her body and mind were powerful. I sat down on the uncomfortable bed and raked a hand through my hair.

"Do I still look weak to you?" She paused, considering my question and I found myself annoyingly impressed by her professional poker face. She paused for a moment longer before turning her back to me again.

"You are built for running. Not for fighting."

"I nearly took down your boy in blue and-"

"Yes." She agreed harshly, cutting me off. " But it also took you nearly nine years of running to do it." I stared at her back as she walked away and in that instant, I knew beyond a shout of a doubt, we weren't going to get along well.

The door hissed as it closed behind both agents and when they were gone. Glancing around the room, I moved to check out my new home slash prison cell. I moved into the bathroom and examined its simple amenities. A simple white vanity with a sink and a mirror hung above it, a toilet, and a shower stall. I closed the sliding door of the bathroom and stripped out of my clothes. If I was going to have to deal with Nick fury of all people, I didn't want to have to do it while sweat and grime coated my skin.

Before stepping into the shower, I stared at my reflection for a long series of moments. My lightly tanned skin was covered in a thin coat of dirt caked sweat, making it look flushed and dirty. My hair wasn't in much better shape either. Light brown locks were strewn around wildly, making me look slightly insane. I attempted to pat it down, to control the slight frizzing but it just returned to its normal mess. I gave up after a minute and sighed heavily to myself. My form, tall and slender looked like a body of a nineteen year old, not a twenty nine year old. I refused to dwell exactly why I would forever look nineteen and instead, stepped into the shower stall.

Purposefully, I made my shower long and very hot. A slightly immature part of me was hoping that would jack up their water and energy bill, even by a little bit. Usually, I used my showers as a separate time away from my everyday duties to reflect and think on past, present, and future events. In this shower though, I refused to think. If I wanted to get out of here I would have to play by SHIELD's rules…up to a point. There were too many soldiers on board and considering the amount of muscle I saw topside, I knew for a fact that I wouldn't make it even half way. Shield wanted me here for a reason. I would find out what that reason was and be on my merry way. Hopefully.

_You could just kill them. Make things easy._

I ignored my other and instead concentrated on my shower. She always though spilling blood was easier. Eventually, when the hot water ran out and I was drenched in icy water, I turned the water off and stepped out. On top of the vanity, next to what looked like to be a wrapped sandwich of some sort was a fluffy looking white towel, a change of clothes, and a note.

I picked up the note first.

Get Dressed. We need to talk.

-Fury

I crumpled it in my fist and tossed the white cotton t-shirt and pants in a corner of the bathroom in favor of my old clothes. I dried and dressed myself slowly, taking my sweet time. Unwrapping the sandwich when I was finished, I took a bite out of it while entering my glorified cell. I froze for just a second when I spotted Nick sitting on my bed, waiting for me. I moved to sit beside him and reclined against the wall, taking another bite of ham and cheese. It was a while before either of us spoke.

"I brought you here for your own protection." I continued chewing and took another bite of my sandwich. It was a while before he said anything else. I was on the last piece of bread when he decided to continue.

"There has been a series of murders around the globe. All in places SHIELD can trace that you have been in." I narrowed my eyes at his back. Was he attempting to pin me for murder? It wouldn't be unlike him, anything to get the job done and all that and I assumed the job was getting me to stay where he could keep a close eye on me. That was what he had wanted in the beginning anyways.

"The killings follow the same fashion every time. A secluded area, a small amount of people, nothing to recognize them as people afterwards except for blood, scraps of flesh, and bones. It's like oh three all over again Asha." I sat up slowly in the bed and crumpled up the sandwich wrapping. I turned so I was facing him and he leaned back so he could see me.

I stared at him in his good eye and narrowed my eyes.

"That's all fine and dandy; you have a new case to solve. I'm assuming that being a private government agency; this is what you are supposed to do. That being said…what does this have to do with me?" He stared at me with a knowing look. He knew I knew what he was implying, I just wanted him to say it.

"Do I need to spell it out for you Asha? I thought my God daughter was smarter than that." I didn't even blink.

"Well excuse me." I snapped lightly. "Some of those sucker punches your new team threw at me probably knocked a couple brain cells loose. So, are you going to answer the question, or do I have to go topside again? You of all people know I can."

He looked at me with an expression that was far from amused. He never really was a big fan of smiling.

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's a promise."

He let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand over his very short hair before looking back up at me. Brown eyes met green and he scowled in that crazy scary way only he could.

"All of the superficial evidence supports that you killed these people. All bullshit aside, I need an honest answer right here and right now. Did you kill those people?" My answer was immediate and solid.

"I don't know."

A/N:

Ha! Weren't expecting that now, were you? Steve will be coming in soon, I have a plan, don't worry. Hey, shout out to all of you who favorited and alerted my story! **Protozoa-wierdness, mercuryfire, phantomoftheoperarules, happyrea, XxLovelyLittleMeXx, Nashira kozoroh, nutmegshep101, CSIGeekFan, ISgrl15, and CharlotteDarkrose. You all are awesome!**

**Those who read my story, review and drop me a line, tell me what you think!**


	4. Duct tape on the window

Chapter FOUR

_Recap:_

_He let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand over his very short hair before looking back up at me. Brown eyes met green and he scowled in that crazy scary way only he could._

"_All of the superficial evidence supports that you killed these people. All bullshit aside, I need an honest answer right here and right now. Did you kill those people?" My answer was immediate and solid._

"_I don't know." _

_Back in black  
I hit the sack  
I've been too long I'm glad to be back  
Yes I'm, let loose  
From the noose  
That's kept me hanging about  
I keep looking at the sky  
'Cause it's gettin' me high  
Forget the herse 'cause I'll never die  
I got nine lives  
Cat's eyes  
Usin' every one of them and running wild_

_'Cause I'm back_  
_Yes, I'm back_  
_Well, I'm back_  
_Yes, I'm back_  
_Well, I'm back, back_  
_(Well) I'm back in black_  
_Yes, I'm back in black_

_Back in the back  
Of a Cadillac  
Number one with a bullet, I'm a power pack  
Yes, I'm in a bang  
With a gang  
They've got to catch me if they want me to hang  
Cause I'm back on the track  
And I'm leadin' the pack  
Nobody's gonna get me on another rap  
So look at me now  
I'm just makin' my play  
Don't try to push your luck, just get out of my way_

_'Cause I'm back_  
_Yes, I'm back_  
_Well, I'm back_  
_Yes, I'm back_  
_Well, I'm back, back_  
_(Well) I'm back in black_  
_Yes, I'm back in black_

_Well, I'm back, Yes I'm back_  
_Well, I'm back, Yes I'm back_  
_Well, I'm back, back_  
_Well I'm back in black_  
_Yes I'm back in black_

_Hooo yeah_  
_Ohh yeah_  
_Yes I am_  
_Oooh yeah, yeah Oh yeah_  
_Back in now_  
_Well I'm back, I'm back_  
_Back, I'm back_  
_Back, I'm back_  
_Back, I'm back_  
_Back, I'm back_  
_Back_  
_Back in black_  
_Yes I'm back in black_

_Back In Black-ACDC_

"Excuse me?" I shrugged in response.

"Hey, you asked for a serious answer and I'm giving it to you."

"I don't know isn't an answer." He rumbled. "I don't know is what a child says when his mother asks him why he hit his brother. You are not a child so cut the bullshit and give me a solid answer."

We both paused. I found myself fighting a smirk at his temper. It reminded me of the old days when I would break out of my room at night just to piss him off. Usually he found me on one of the command computers they used to have watching illegally downloaded episodes of some show I was obsessed with at the time and eating whatever there was leftover in the commons fridge.

"I. Don't. Know." He sighed loudly and scrubbed his face with the palms of his hands muttering something along the lines of 'I'm too old for this shit.' I rolled my eyes and huffed.

"If you think I'm attempting to antagonize you, you've got another thing coming. I really don't know. She…my other personality sometimes takes over when I get upset and most of the time when she does, I black out."

"Has it ever occurred to you that you might want to work on controlling her?"

"You damn well know it has fury, but every time I even attempt to, I run a heavy risk of losing control and killing every man, woman, and child my other half can until she runs out of steam. You saw what I did up there to your boy in blue and that marksman? That was just a hint of a taste. You don't get it fury. She craves the kill. I'm even afraid to go grocery shopping in fear of passing by the butcher's area. When I smell blood, so does she and she gets riled. When I get upset, so does she and is able to take control. So when you ask me for a solid answer, believe me when I say I'm giving you one."

Apparently, at some point I had closed my eyes. When I opened them, I found myself hovering over Fury, a hand at his throat and the muzzle of his gun he must have had hidden precariously on him pressing against the underside of my chin. Cold, dangerous, and utterly useless. We stared at one another for a minute.

"You see what I mean?" I whimpered, pulling away. The muzzle of the gun followed me but I ignored it and sat back down.

"I wasn't even aware that I was moving. She's another force in me that's as unpredictable as it gets." I allowed my face to fall into my hands and gently rubbed my temples. I began to think about the early years, when I didn't have this…issue. Flashes of the plane crash filled my minds eye but I forced them away. I opened my locket and slipped another pill underneath my tongue.

"What are those exactly?" I looked to fury to see him staring at my locket. I grabbed it and slipped it underneath my shirt. The size of a small plumb, it was cold and reassuring against my chest.

"When I was…traveling," I snorted at that word. So far from the truth but closer than anything else. "When I was traveling, I came across a very small village in India. I can't tell you the name of it, I don't even know. After getting through some language barriers, they offered me a temporary solution for my…_anger problem_." I snorted derisively at that. Anger problem indeed.

"And these solutions were?" Fury coaxed when I had gone silent. Hesitantly, I pulled the locket from underneath my shirt and opened it. Inside, a small storage unit was built in and in each slot there were five pills. When you took one, the next would rise up until the row we depleted. I had made the contraption myself.

"A plant." I said. "The chief of the village told me of a plant with _magic powers_. He said it calms those who are severely injured enough to be treated or those who are sick and needed to rest. He described to me what this plant looked like and I went searching for it." I took one of the pills out and held it between my thumb and forefinger.

"It took me six days but I found it." Fury gave me a look that I knew all to well. He was getting ready to reprimand me. I held my hand yup in response and sighed.'

"No, I didn't try it on sight. I'm not that stupid. I found multiple plants and bagged them. When I got back into urban India, I mailed them off to a scientist who was a personal friend of mine. He analyzed them for me and told me basically that it was a very strong narcotic; that one petal could knock down half a herd of elephants. When I received that news we spoke about it a little more Via internet and realized that the only way to see if it worked was to directly experiment with it. So in two thousand eight, I moved back to the states and paid that scientist a visit, the crazy bastard." I said the last part with a fondness that was evident. He had been a good friend of mine.

"What was his name?" If I hadn't been looking for it, I never would have seen Fury look up into the corner of the room just for the briefest of moments. Feigning that I was running my fingers through my hair, I took a peak to. A camera. We were not alone, not that I expected we would be. In shield headquarters, there was always someone watching you.

"Now Nick," I chided gently. "You really think I'm going to tell you that? He was a personal friend of mine and I protect my friends." After a moment Fury shrugged saying "We'll find him eventually." I snorted in an incredulous fashion. He stared at me, wordless questions in his eyes.

"It's pretty hard to find someone who is dead." Another one of those intense looks.

"No, I didn't kill him, if that's what you were thinking, but question time comes after the story. Anyways, I arrived at his office and we proceeded to experiment." I paused again and stared at a spot in the floor, not really seeing anything. I remembered the experiments and how…life changing they were. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Fury reach out a hand and brush my cheek. When I turned to look at him in return, he was holding up a finger. A perfect tear drop was balancing on the tip.

"Why the tears?" He asked and I smiled fondly.

"Before I allowed my friend to do his tests with the drug, I couldn't get her voice out of my head. It was like a constant bombardment, begging me to be…an animal." I began rubbing my temples again.

I looked up to him, hoping he saw what I felt in my eyes. His expression gave nothing away.

"When I took the drug, her voice was just…gone. No desire to kill, no need to want to explode with anger. It was just me, a simple human being. But the effects didn't last for long. Five minutes later, her voice was back but the funny thing was that she didn't have as much control as she did. She was subdued, up to a point. We found out through more testing that it took more rage to get me to start the change. Not a lot more but more none the less. When I walked out of my friends' office, I felt like a new person who was given a second chance to control her demons."

"So you take those pills to control her?" I shook my head immediately.

"No, I take these pills, once in the morning and once at night and whenever else i feel like I am about to have an episode to subdue her. To give me the leverage I need to regain control. This is not a new fitting for a cracked window, it's merely a piece of duct tape that has a shelf life."

When we both had gone quiet again I looked up to the barely noticeable camera and smiled widely, showing my teeth.

"So yeah, I wouldn't know if I killed those people, you would need to do some heavy cross examinations of the evidence and compare it to my cells but hey, that's your problem. Not mine." I reclined along the bed, behind Fury and rested my head against the pillow. Turning so I was facing the wall the bed was pushed against, I made myself comfortable.

"What about the scientist?" I closed my eyes and sighed. I was hoping that he forgot about that part. Unrealistic, I know, but I was hoping.

"In Oh nine, I was breezing through the morning paper when I saw the obituaries and his name. When I dug up some more info, I saw that he was presumed dead a few months after I had left during the military destruction in Harlem, New York. They found his blood splattered against the walls, so much that they immediately assumed he was dead. That his body was taken somewhere else." I felt tears prick my eyes and I turned my head into the pillow. Samuel had been a good man. Slightly quirky and a little on the nerdish side, but he had been an exception man with an exceptional mind. He had been so kind to me.

Fury stood some time later and without a word, left the room. After his departure I forced myself to clear my mind and with the last of my thinking power before I fell asleep, I found myself thinking an odd expected thought. I hoped the boy in blue was okay; I did hit him pretty hard.

A/N:

Yeah, i know its kind of short but i really wanted to get this explaination out of the way, it is a crucial part of the story. :) Hope you all are enjoying the last of your weekend. Shout outs to my alerters, Favoriters, and commenters. BTW, don't worry MercuryFire, there will be more Thor soon. lol. I love him too. haha.

Bless and be blessed,

-Me


	5. Prison Break and Awkward Moments

Days passed. And as those days passed, I found out through trial and error that I was being ignored. Save for the three consecutive meals brought to me by one of the guards Fury had stationed outside the door, there was no one visiting my cell or even paying me the slightest bit of attention. When I realized this, I attempted to wait nick out. Even his patience had its breaking point.

As I waited, I slept. Sleep became my easiest pass time since when I closed my eyes and as the world drifted away, so did my other. She wasn't present in my dreams, they were still mine and for that, I was grateful.

Usually, my dreams are relatively pleasant; nothing too weird or radical. Usually, I dreamt about past conversations or something neutral my subconscious decided to look further into. Maybe it was the fact that I was back with shield. Against my will mind you or maybe it was because I saw Nick for the first time in quite a while. I wasn't sure exactly what it was but my dreams that night were far from normal.

I was small. That was the first thing I was able to comprehend. Small enough that the top of my head barley brushed the waist of the person leading me by the hand through the asphalt air field. Judging by the feel of his calloused hand, the person was a man. This meant either I was a very short person or I was young, I was pretty sure it was the latter.

My consciousness was restricted in this form in the sense that I couldn't move my own body. It was as if every move I made was already pre-ordained. My Mary Jane clad feet clicked against the ground and I found myself staring at a very large white plane. I felt a small surge of fear run through me and backed away from the white monstrosity to cling to the mans leg. Hands reached down for me and I was hoisted so I was resting in the arms of whoever was leading me.

"Hey, hey, what's all that fear for young lady?" I looked into the bright green eyes that my twenty nine year old self hadn't seen for years. I stared at his face and drank up every soft wrinkle and every caress of laugh lines. My father stroked the bump of my chin as it quivered. His face was far younger than when I last saw him but it was still him. My past self shook slightly with fears of crashing or falling out of the sky running through her mind. She tried not to cry but a couple rebel tears slipped from her eyes. I could feel them running down her cheeks. It was odd in this form, referring to my self, or rather, my past self, as HER instead of I.

"What if something happens daddy?"

"Hey now, would I ever let anything happen to you?" She shook her head, no.

"But what if-" He rested a finger against her lips and smiled slightly.

'No ifs little missy. I would never allow any bad thing to happen to you. Do you trust me?" She nodded. "Good. Let's do this, I'll carry you until we get onto the plane and when we are seated you can hold my hand. When you get scared, you squeeze as hard as you possibly can. Can you do that?" She nodded and tucked her face into the crook of his neck.

"That's my girl. Don't worry; it'll be over before you know it." The dream continued up to the point where I registered the sounds and motions of my father no longer walking on asphalt but on smooth carpet. The dream changed then, I was older and seated next to my father and my brother was also seated next to me on the other side. Everything was pandemonium. The fire, the pressure, the screaming, just before everything came to a close there was a tight pressure on my neck and I heard a man scream my name.

A+V+E+N+G+E+R+S

I have a policy never to wake a highly sought after and heavily guarder prisoner out of a nap with my own two hands. Even though I have never really been in that situation I've watched enough cop shows to prove that my evidence was hard and true. Well, hopefully. It was Hollywood after all.

Even so, apparently someone didn't get the memo.

A hand, warm and strong was gripping my upper arm when I woke and out of instinct, I moved to defend myself.

Leaping up from the bed, I lunged for my intruder and grasped him by the neck. After doing something very complicated with my arms and legs, he was lying on his back on the bed and I was straddling his waist, my hand around his throat, and my face inches from his. The first thing I noticed was that he was good looking. Very good looking. Blonde hair and blue eyes went well with the strong musculature I could feel underneath me. He seemed, oddly familiar.

"Hello there." I said pleasantly. He stared up at me with a mix of confusion and frustration. There was no fear in the man. Wasn't that interesting?

"Do you have a name?" He moved to sit up but I tightened my grip on his throat and pushed one of my knees into his gut, pinning him to the bed. He seemed to get the point and relaxed. I let my hold loosened slightly and he took a breath.

"Steve and I don't want to hurt you." I rolled my eyes.

"Afraid of a good fight?" He shook his head.

"My mother always taught me never to hit a pretty woman."

"Flattery will get you nowhere Mr. Steve."

To my side, the front door opened abruptly and two men walked in. The first was large, blonde, and very muscled. The other was lanky with dark hair and eyes. He had an air of superiority as he entered the room that made him as intimidating as the rest, something I could in a sense, respect.

"Hey, this looks remotely interesting. Can I play too?" the dark haired man said. I raised an eyebrow and lifted my hand from Steve's throat and sat so I was on my knees, straddling his waist.

"I don't think you want to play this game. You probably won't be able to handle the rules."

"ahg, you see, that's the beauty of it. Rules my dear friend, are made to be tested and broken. Therefore, I can handle anything you throw at me." I snorted at his cockiness.

"Anything?" He smiled and nodded once.

"Absolutely anything. If I can go one on one with point break here," He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder to the blonde man. "Then, I think I can handle pretty much anything. Have you seen the size of his hammer? I mean one good hard bang to the chest and I'm down for the count. But no, I lived to tell the tale of how Tony Stark; billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist survived and won the battle against the God of thunder. Feel free to applaud.

"You did not win, it was a draw." The blonde man spoke up. Tony shrugged.

"Same thing." He approached closer and held out his hand.

"Tony Stark. Play boy, billionaire, and all around fantastic." He said. I snorted and glanced at his hand for a moment before grasping his hand and shaking once.

"Ash Clark. Modest runaway with only a few dollars to my name and hungry."

"Excuse me." We both looked down to see Steve looking rather uncomfortable. It was amusing to say the least.

"Oops, sorry." I said. I rested my elbows on his chest and sprawled myself out on his form. Eye to eye with him, I smirked.

"Are you fantastic or as hungry as I am?" The red blush that filled his cheeks was extremely comical and I laughed before rolling off of him.

"So, is there a particular reason that you guys are playing nanny squad?" I asked wryly. Big and blonde stared at me, looking confused at the terminology. Tony shrugged and smirked.

"We have been assigned to escort you to the top floor to be inhumanely questioned my fury and his squad of lapdogs. But if I'm being honest, I was curious as to what a werewolf looked like. I got to say, I never would have guessed."

I narrowed my eyes at Tony and pursed my lips.

"I'm not a werewolf." I said.

"Do you have a better way to explain it?"

"Yes."

"Then let's hear it." No one spoke then and after a minute of awkwardly tense silence, I brushed past Tony and past big and blonde and out the door. I was not a werewolf. At least I didn't think so. When you don't have much control when you change, you don't really make it a point to look in a mirror.

"This way." Steve said when he caught up with me. Steve, Tony, and big and blonde led me down several long hallways and to a very large room. When I walked in, I plugged my nose and gagged. The stench of the dead body on the metal table was nearly unbearable.

"Whoa, who's the stiff?" I rolled my eyes at Tony's sarcastic and blatant disrespect for the dead. Slowly, we all approached the body and when I was close enough, I crossed my upper body and kissed my fingers as I was taught to do as a child. Fury, who I noticed lingering in the room then, approached.

"May you rest in peace?" I muttered quietly.

"This is a victim of a murder that occurred not even four days ago. The day before we collected you, Asha. It occurred close to the area and in an effort to distinguish weather or not you are the culprit; we are going to cross examine some stray DNA that was on the scene. Blood and hair."

"Well good Moring to you too warden." I said to Fury. His eye twitched with irritation but he ignored me and instead nodded to someone. I turned to see just exactly who and scowled.

The red headed bitch with the attitude who had first imprisoned me began preparing a needle to draw blood. A growl rose from my chest.

"I don't do needles." I said, glaring at the red head. In all honesty, I forgot her name.

"I don't do sympathy. Now sit down, shut up, and it will be over in a second." I curled my lip at her form and turned back to Nick.

"Can I hit her?" He just glared at me. Party pooper.

"Blood and hair. Now." With a resigned sigh, I sat down on an errant stool and extended my arm. She was rough as she handled my arm and I winced as she stabbed me. Geez, I really got to her. I smiled evilly, far too proud of myself. I really didn't like her, she just seemed…slightly pompous. I didn't like pompous, it screwed with my Zen.

"So, is there a reason for the prison break? Are you finally coming to your senses?" I asked Fury. He ignored me and instead chatted with the other occupants of the room. That left me with me and my…nurse? I snorted at that.

"Stop moving, I don't want to accidentally break the needle and have to go digging for it." She said pleasantly. I frowned at her and resisted the urge to pull away. Somehow, I imagined that she would sincerely enjoy such a responsibility.

"Sure you don't." I muttered under my breath.

When she was done taking blood and slicing off a subtle chunk of my hair, Nick began to speak again.

"With that done, I want you to begin strength training and cardio with Captain America. I want you ready to get out on the field as soon as this DNA comparison comes in. Captain, you are free to work her to the ground. Believe me, she can handle it."

"Yes sir." Steve said and the three men who I had cam ein with, ushered me out of the room. In the hallway, I paused midstep and blanched at Steve.

"Your Captain America?" I demanded. He smirked and nodded once.

"Guilty maam." I suddenly found myself slightly uneasy. Training was going to be a bitch.

A/N: Hey guys, I'm so sorry this took me so long. Things have been crazy with the first half of summer school finals and being a college student is exhausting. I am going to work on updating more often but please bear with me. I am also doing home renovations and you know how that goes. Thank you to all who have reviewed, favorited, and alerted to my story. Drop me a line and tell me your thoughts on the story with a review. Happy Monday!

-me


	6. Sweaty Mother Teresa

In my life, a lot of things have been embarrassing. The first time I received 'natures womanly gift' when I was at the grocery store with my mother, the time I dressed up as Fury for Halloween (Not as cool as you would think it is.), the first time I had allowed my other half to take control and ended up sprawled in a local park naked as the day I was born. Yes, embarrassing. But right here and right now, I could easily say that as Steve led me towards where him and I would be training, that this moment topped everything else by far.

What made it worse was that I didn't like to work out in front of people. Maybe I'm a little vain but you won't ever hear me admitting to that. Corridor after corridor, we made our way through the…flying boat?, plane?, spaceship? I honestly had no clue what we were on.

"Hey Steve, what are we on exactly?" He glanced over his shoulder just for a moment before turning back to watch where he was going. With all the hustle and bustle around us, I could see why he needed his attention. Staff were speed walking here, there, and everywhere and every once in a while one of them decided to be the proverbial deer in the middle of the road and nearly get clobbered by Steve's massive form. Only, he isn't a car and this isn't a car commercial.

"I'm not sure what you mean." He said pleasantly. I frowned at his back and pursed my lips. You would think he would be less…pleasant considering that I had attempted to cram the side of his shield half way up his ear not even two days ago. But he seemed like he was past that and for reasons unknown, that made me slightly uncomfortable. I was generally a person who believed in the saying 'an eye for an eye'. Meaning, I was very much expecting him to attempt to cram his shield into my ear at some point in the near future.

"Ummm… is this a space ship, plane, flying taxi?"

"I believe they call it a helicarrier maam."

'maam?' I mouthed to myself. I didn't like that, it made me feel old.

_You are twenty nine._ An inner voice argued.

_And as far as I can tell, not aging. I still look like I did at nineteen._ I argued. Oh lord, I was now arguing with the voices in my head. Great, loony bin here I come. Mentally, I told my other to shut the hell up and focused on something more…interesting.

Around me, the staff were whispering furiously as they passed and some even stopped to stare. I glanced at a few who had stopped and a few who had kept walking and found the same expression in each of them. Curiosity and fear.

Curiosity most likely because I was something new. A shiny new toy their boss had dragged onto their fancy-shmancy 'hellicarrier'. Fear, because I was sure the word was spread on what exactly I could do. That the new 'super' in town wasn't so super. I felt an urge to jump out and say a quick 'boo!' to one of the lingering staff members but restrained myself as Steve led me down another corridor, away from the horde of rude staring and whispering.

Towards the end of the hallway we reached a door that required a retina scan to enter. Steve bent forward and as he scanned his eye, I tried not to scan his…

The door opened with a hiss and Steve stepped aside, allowing me entry first. I smiled at the ancient gesture. As far as I was concerned, chivalry was a dying practice and it was refreshing to see it practiced here and there. Another hallway later and he paused at another door, this time entering a passcode.

When the door opened, I was transported back in time. No high tech treadmills and Stairmasters for this solider. The room was very large and full with old 1900's workout equipment. Punching bags, jump rope, and there was even a boxing ring! How sick was that?

"This is so cool." I muttered to myself as Steve began pulling out something or other and setting up a corner of the room that wasn't filled with workout equipment. No wait, there were weights there. Using a hand towel, he dusted off one of the weight benches. When he was satisfied with his work, he draped the towel around his neck and turned to me.

"let's talk, shall we?" He gestured to the bench and stepped away. I sat down hesitantly and but my lip. I didn't know weather to apologize or to defend myself. Well, lets look at this logically.

I had been defending myself from capture

He HAD rushed me first.

Then again, I had hit him pretty hard with his shield. I still remembered the ringing sound it had made on contact.

I ragged on his title when I first met him.

I had insinuated that he was weak.

I had nearly felt him up in the prison room.

.

.

.

.

Abruptly, I felt like the new kid sitting in lunch all alone. Awkward and out of place. I really needed to apologize.

_He threatened us._

'yes.' I thought. 'but that doesn't give us the territory to practically feel him up in front of his two team mates.' My other shut up. Either mollified by my comment or laughing at me. I wasn't sure but she didn't seem like the laughing type.

"Asha?" I snapped my gaze up to see Steve taking a seat next to me. The bench was big enough. In his hands, he had a clip board with a black piece of paper attached and a pen in his bear paw of a hand.

"Um…wha?" I said, rather intelligently. Apparently, I had the social skills of a chimp.

"I've been calling your name for the last minute or so, are you okay?" That was sweet.

"Yeah, yup, yes. Yes, I'm fine." I babbled. "Please, continue with…" I gestured vaguely to the clip board "Whatever it is you were doing. I'll pay attention, scouts honor." He smiled and I couldn't help but smile back. He was handsome when he smiled.

"Well, I was organizing a workout routine to get you on. How about we start out with a tentative general workout, just to see where you are fitness wise?" I nodded instantly, not contradicting as I usually did.

For the next few minutes, we planned out a workout routine and before five minutes had passed he pulled out a set of workout clothes from a closet and tossed them at me. I caught them easily and when he showed me to a rest room, I took a few minutes to change. Black and white Adidas shorts with a black, supportive sports bra and a grey tank top was my uniform for the day. When I stepped out back into the training room, he wordlessly handed me a pair or Nike sneakers that were exactly my size. I didn't ask, he didn't tell.

When I was dressed accordingly to the event, I approached him from behind and tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled to face me and smiled when he realized I was ready to sweat.

"Alright then, we'll start with stretching." And stretch we did. While stretching, I realized how long it had been since I had a good workout. My other half provided me with accelerated healing and endurance but I never really stopped for a real workout. When we finished stretching, we started the jumping Jacks and lunges. By jumping jack number eighty seven, I found that I was developing a stitch in my side. Lunge number seventy two had my legs feeling like jelly.

"Your doing good so far." He said when he handed me a water. I opened it and started chugging it. Halfway through the bottle, I realized he was freaking out a little.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You really don't want to do-" A minute later, I was running to the waste basket and puking the water back up.

'Do that." I heard him finish. He held my hair as I vomited and helped me to sit down on one of the benches.

"Rule number one, don't start inhaling the water when your body is overheated. It's just going to come right back up."

"I hate your stupid rules." I muttered and tried to rub the headache away.

"Come on, roughing up a punching bag will take the headache away, trust me." He helped me to my feet and I dragged my embarrassed form over to one of the bags; a large red one.

"I feel so embarrassed." I muttered, pushing the heavy weight. Steve stopped it before it came back to hit me square in the diaphragm and smiled kindly at me.

"Don't feel embarrassed. It's like a right of passage." With that, he began to teach me the correct way to wail on a punching bag. When we were finished, I literally dropped to the ground, panting.

"This is," Pant. Pant. "Your revenge." Pant. Pant. "Right?"

"Revenge?" He sat criss cross applesauce to my side and I nodded tiredly. The exhaustion wouldn't last for very long. I could already feel my other's abilities repairing the damage the damage I had done to my body. Yay for acceleration!

"What do you mean revenge?"

"I haven't apologized for what happened top side." He stared at me dumb founded for a few minutes before bursting out with a chuckle.

"Oh, yeah. I kind of forgot about that." I gaped. I guess the old concept was true. People really did move on and forget what you were still dwelling on.

"Forgot? Seriously? I clobbered the side of your head with your shield! I should have left a lasting impression both literally and figuratively." He just looked at me as if I had told him I was big bird. The quiet was wearing on my nerves and I began grinding my teeth.

"Umm, that you did. You also showed me that my right block was a little weak. I should thank you for that, not condemn you. Plus, you were defending yourself. You thought I was a threat. It's perfectly understandable."

"My God." I said. "Your like a guy mother Teresa."

Laughing, he got to his feet and helped me up.

"I like to think of myself as more of a Ghandi. So, I think that this is a good workout to stick to for about week before getting into the hard stuff." Joy.

"I take back the mother Teresa comment." I said. He only acknowledged my comment with a smirk and moved to get something out of a gym bag laying in a corner of the room. A cell phone apparently.

"Yes sir." He said to the other line. "She did fine sir." Pause. "yes sir, I'd be happy to." Pause. "You too." He slipped the phone back into the gym bag and turned to face me.

"Directors orders that you clean up and head back to your quarters for lunch. He'll be waiting for you, he wants to speak with you. When you finish shower and dressing, I'll escort you back down. The showers are in the same restroom you changed in." With that, he started to collect and put equipment away.

After my shower I began dressing in my underwear. When I adjusted the second bra strap I noticed that hanging from one of the cabinets, there was a spare uniform…in my size. I couldn't resist and when I had it on and was examining my rear end in the mirror I developed a plan. I could escape this tin can any time I wished to…probably. What I needed right now at this very moment was information; Information on these kills that were being found. I agreed with Nick when He had said that the kills were nearly identical to the incident in Oh three. The body from earlier was just as mangled. Even so, there was something…wrong with the kill. There was something about it that completely distinguished it from my other half's tactic. I just had to figure out what she saw that I didn't notice.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I took another door out of the training room and into a hallway. Jogging, I made my way towards the busy stream of people, hoping that they didn't recognize me too much.

**A/N: I really had a lot of fun with this. Reviews are like sweaty workouts with Steve! Hope you all are being blessed this week!**

**-me**


	7. Vile evidence

The maze of the headquarters hallways seemed like a cruel ironic joke on my life. My life was a maze and so was this. It was official; the fates were sadistic bitches. Even though I was wearing the suit I had found in the women's locker room after training with Steve. So far, it was a blessing rather than a curse as everyone mistook me for an agent; a small sip of water in my own personal hell.

Hallway after hallway I turned, jogged, and nearly lost my mind as I tried to find the room I was looking for. I needed to find the body I had seen with Fury and the others before they found me first. When I had been pulled into the room and questioned about the lacerations I had seen on the body, I had smelled something other than the Avengers and other than a dead body. I had smelled something…familiar and for the life of me, I needed to find out what it was.

I made another series of turns before approaching something devastatingly familiar, the security door with the retina scanner. There was a bright side though, I was almost completely sure that the hallway just beyond the door was the one that would lead me to the body. Staring at the scanning contraption for a minute, I conceded to myself that I was just going to have to break the door down. I was preparing to do just that when someone began hollering over my shoulder.

"Solider! What the hell do you think you are doing?" I turned to see the agent from the plane I had head-butted. Maria Hill I believe she was called. I stood stalk straight and saluted her as I had seen other soldiers do in the movies. She approached swiftly and scowled at the finger smudges I had left on the pristine glass of the door.

"The door was jammed Agent hill." I lied. Who knows, maybe I'll catch a break,

She frowned at me for a moment. She was most likely unsatisfied with the fact that she couldn't see my eyes since the hat that came with the suit was firmly on top of my head, creating a deep shadow over my eyes.

"Did you complete the scan?"

"Yes maam." I said. She looked back to the door again and pressed a series of buttons before scanning her own eye. The door opened with a bit of a push and she walked through.

"Hmm, the release on the door seems to be sticking a little, I will have to have maintenance look at it. The last thing we need if for it to jam in an emergency." I said nothing. I only walked through the door and nodded once. I was walking away when she called me back. Sweat began beading on the back of my neck from nerves, I was so close!

"What is your name solider; I haven't seen you around here before." Shit, shit, triple shit. I opened my mouth to give her a bogus name when the overhead speakers blared

"Agent Maria Hill, your presence is requested in the front bay." She glanced at the speakers once and frowned.

"Well, pleasantries will have to wait. I'm sure you have work to do and I need to go." I nodded once again and she walked off with a steady but fast paced gait.

"Sweet baby Jesus." I breathed. I leaned against a wall and wiped the sweat off of the back of my neck. That had been completely nerve wracking and unsettling. I had been sure that she was going to report me to Fury. Lord knows that was inevitable, Steve was probably running all around the joint looking for me.

"Speak of the Devil and he shall appear." I muttered to myself as I caught a glimpse of Steve's back descending down a hallway, away from me. He looked concerned and frazzled at the same time. Poor guy.

With that, I pushed myself off of the wall and moved down the corridor and down that particular hallway I was sure would lead me to the body. Looking in each tiny window that was mounted on each of the doors I passed offices, medical treatment areas, a lounge looking room, and finally a lab are with a body covered with a white sheet.

Looking around discreetly, I made sure no one was looking and slipped into the room. When I was inside, I closed the door firmly and pressed the button on the long handle to lock it. It would give me a little more time, not a lot but more time none the less.

Inside the room, I approached the body carefully with measured steps. I guess some irrational part of me was afraid that it was just playing possum and as soon as I was close enough, it would jump out at me. I berated my imagination as I stared at the cloth covered outline of the body. This situation somehow reminded me of the movie Dawn of the Dead. If this didn't turn me of to dead bodies, I'm not sure what would.

When I was standing next to the covered, unanimated corpse I bent down to retrieve a pair of latex gloves from the bottom storage of the table and slipped them on. I wanted to leave as little of a trace that I was here as possible. If I was lucky, I would get done here and would be able to walk out completely undetected. I would make up some bullshit story to tell Steve but I would be mostly undetected.

I didn't have a lot of time to work with and considering that factor, I pushed the sheet away from the body and forced myself to stare and examine the deep, gruesome gashes. They seemed deeper than they were and a part of me hoped sincerely that this guy had been dead when whoever or whatever killed him went to work. Speaking of going to work…

I leaned down so I wasn't even an inch away from the body and took a deep inhale through my nose. Promptly, I turned to the trash bin and threw up. The rot of the body was strong, very strong. It almost dominated the scent of death and of something…other. When I was finished puking and wiped my mouth with paper towel from a dispenser over the small sink behind me, I bent down again and inhaled. I didn't throw up this time though I was close to it. Gradually as I inhaled and exhaled, I began isolating scents. Rot…death…man… blood…dirt...animal? No, that one was wrong. It wasn't an animal; it was human or something close to it; something familiar. I compared the scent of this man's fading natural scent with the…Thing I smelled and I was sure after a few more breaths that they were vastly different. I followed the scent of the former and found that it was strongest on a gash that lined the man's neck. Most likely the killing blow. It was a clear sticky fluid that had congealed a long time ago. Saliva maybe.

Rummaging through the cabinets behind me, I pulled out a vile half the size of my littlest finger and a small bag of sterile q-tips. I extracted a sample of the substance and cut off the cotton top of the q-tip so it fit into the vile.

I froze when I heard footsteps approach the door but as quickly as they had come and lingered, they passed by. Settling into a comfortable curiosity, I poked around the room, trying to see if a file had been kept for this particular victim. Apparently, luck was on my side.

I had bent down to see if whoever worked here had kept a filing cabinet underneath the counter top but I had no such luck in that department. As I had been rising from my crouch, a thick manila folder resting just beside the victims left leg caught my eye. Standing to my full height, i retrieved the envelope and undid the string that was keeping it bound closed. Inside, i expected to find papers but instead, i found an electronic tablet pc.

I powered the thing up from its sleep setting and snorted at the fact that there was no pass code. Now that wasn't very smart on their part but whatever. It was making my day a hell of a lot easier. The tablet opened into its front screen and next to a word processing document there was a file with a name made up of a series of numbers and a file that had the name ''Asia'' looked promising. Considering where nick had said the body of the victim had been found, I figured "Asia" was as good of a start as any.

Opening the file, seven other folders appeared and after checking the dates on each of them, I opened the one that was most recent. It was dated two days ago. The file was filled with photos and an audio file and wouldn't you know it, the photos were of the victim on what looked like this same metal table, though most metal tables looked alike. I surfed through the mess of photos while the audio file played.

''July 9th, 2012.'' the man who recorded himself said. ''Victim found two days prior, lying in a bloody field. Cause of death, torn jugular and fatal amounts of lost blood. Lacerations located on limbs, stomach, neck, and groin. The victims face it oddly free of any blemishes. After further examinations of teeth for dental identification which ultimately failed, the victim has no recorded identity, just like the others. During the dental work, i noticed a series of odd disfigurations on his gums just above his incisors. As if they had been removed and forced back into place. Or as if...as if they were retractable. Again, this is identical to the others. I ran blood tests the day the victim was brought to headquarters and like the others, he is wholly human. I am assuming the victim underwent some form of torture. No traces of drugs of alcohol. An odd case indeed.''

The recording cut off and i finished going through the photos for each of the files the doctor had apparently taken during his examination. I placed the tablet on the counter and moved to the body again. I lifted his stiff upper lip and saw the marks the doctor had mentioned. My blood went slightly cold at the sight and my own tongue raised itself to my own gums and i felt my own familiar marks that were far lighter than the victims.

They weren't scars; they were small, barely noticeable stretch marks because when people like me allowed their canines to extend to their full potential while still in the form of a human, it stretched the flesh of the gums. A human mouth was not made for inhuman canines as thick as three quarters of the dime and twice as long.

This man wasn't human, or at least hadn't been before he died, i don't care what the blood tests said. He had been like me, i was sure of it. I picked up the tablet again and snooped through the other six files. They were different victims but the situation was ultimately the same. Same cause of death, same gum marks, same sex. I was about to place the tablet back into the envelope and was trying to find a proper use of this new pleather of information when behind me, the door to the examination room opened.

I whirled around to see a fit man of average height, dark hair greying at the temples, with thick rimmed glasses walk into the room, his attention engrossed on something he had in his hands. I dashed behind the examination with inhuman speed so i could wait for him to reach a good distance away from the door, so i could slip out.

I was so close, close enough that i could practically taste my hiding spot. Unfortunately, my nearly final step to a hidden freedom caught on the corner of the table and i went crashing to the floor. The man looked up and ripped off his glasses, staring at me incredulously.

''What are you doing here?" Well, that was a loaded question.

"Aren't you supposed to be with the captain?'' his gaze moved from me and into the evidence of my snooping. His eyes grew wide and he looked back to me.

''I think we need to call fury.'' I raised my hands gently and shook my head. It wasn't a very flattering position for me, considering that I was still flat on my ass.

''Fury doesn't need to be involved in this, just let me get out of here, I didn't tamper with much.'' Honesty is golden…right?

''Much?''

He glanced at the uncovered body again and his eyebrows raised just the tiniest bit. This wasn't going to end on a peaceful note.

''Yeah.'' he said. ''We need to get fury involved.'' he moved towards a phone that was mounted on a wall and I took the only opportunity I knew I would have. Lunging towards the counter, I grabbed the vile and the tablet before careening towards the door.

''Hey! You can't take that!'' I busted out of the door and immediately came into contact with a hallway a quarter ways full of agents. I walked quickly, making it look like i was just another solider on a very important mission. The doctor came bursting out of the room and I heard a clatter that sounded like someone crashing into something, or someone else. I turned back just for a second and swore under my breath. Both the doctor and a very large, much muscled blonde man were getting to their feet. I began walking faster. The last thing i needed was to get into an altercation with Thor. I wasn't even that good.

''Stop her!'' i heard the doctor shout and i kicked it into high gear. I took corridor after corridor, hoping that whoever had been following me on the doctors' orders would lose my trail.

Behind me i could hear the thunder of boots and loafers but one pair stood out above them all. The pounding got louder and after taking another few erratic turns that had me jumping down a stair case and launching myself over a mail cart, i made it to a series of what looked like empty offices. Quickly but quietly, I slipped into an office and allowed the door to close behind me.

For good measure, I ducked behind a mahogany desk.

The footsteps thundered closer and in a flurry, ran right past my hiding spot. Breathing deeply, I leaned against one of the drawers and tried to think while also trying to regain my breath. I had been forced to run at a pace I rarely ran and frankly, it was tiring.

As I caught my breath, I considered my options. Going to Fury with my theory wouldn't do anyone any good. He would just lock me up until my attitude changed or until his bosses ordered to have my head on a silver platter. Escaping was an idea but I wouldn't be able to solve anything, I would just be running from the Avengers. I had to think of something, and fast.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed but when my breath had returned and after I had attempted to look for a way out, I birthed an idea. Turning the Tablet PC on again, I copied the information onto the memory card that was already mounted into it. When it was done, I removed it. I pushed the now useless tablet away from me and picked up the vile; making sure it was completely secure. Secure to the point where no liquid could get in or out. I prayed under my breath, hoping this would work.

Gathering both small items into my hand, I took a series of deep breaths before I relaxed my throat, opened my mouth and tossed them back, swallowing them both whole. I would have to get S.H.E.I.L.D to willingly release me.

A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated in quite a while, I finished taking summer classes and have been dealing with some severe anxiety from the stress of transferring schools. I hope you guys find this chapter to be interesting. I promise you, the story is going somewhere. Sorry again guys! I will try to update again as soon as possible but I can't promise anything. I'm taking really hard classes this semester though I will try to keep updating. Have a good end of summer!

-ME


	8. Game of chess and cat and mouse

Chapter eight- Game of chess or cat and mouse?

You want a revelation,  
You wanna get it right  
But, it's a conversation,  
I just can't have tonight  
You want a revelation  
Some kind of resolution  
You want a revelation

Florence and the machine "No light, no light"

I felt that I only had two choices in my current situation. First, I could stay hidden and wait for whatever pair of agents or avengers find me and take me in peacefully. I didn't care very much for that decision, and not just because I personally enjoy causing trouble. No, if I went peacefully, they would suspect something. A number of people had seen me run away from the doctor and he had seen me take the vile and tablet from the room though, I wasn't sure if he specifically knew what was in the vile. No, I couldn't wait for them to find me, I would never gain their trust that way and that was exactly what I needed to do. My second option was to fabricate some kind of lie as to why I was in that room and allow them to take me back to my prison cell kicking and screaming; and not in that order.

The tablet was pretty much useless to me now but in an effort to save time and cover up some of my tracks, I permanently deleted the files that were saved on the tablets hard drive. If my assumption was correct, that this tablet was the only device with this particular information concerning the bodies, I was currently the only one with a copy that I would have to… retrieve later. I was so going to hate that.

Just to get it out of sight, I shoved the tablet into one of the large drawers in the desk and gently closed it. I was trying to be as quiet as possible, the last thing I needed was to find me because I slammed a drawer to hard, that would ruin everything. I pushed myself to my feet carefully and rose clumsily, I still ached a little from the training Steve had put me through. That was another thing, no doubt Steve was looking for me too. I felt slightly horrible for tricking him like that. Even when he had the opportunity to put me through boot camp hell, he had been somewhat lenient with me. He had also let the "roof" incident go without a word or fuss. I appreciated the kindness he had shown me and wished that I could in turn be kind to him but I had a job to do and unfortunately, repaying his kindness wasn't a job that was on my list in the foreseeable future. Maybe it will be, only time will tell.

I adopted an air of silence as I gently opened the door of the office and slid out into the long hall. It closed behind me with a nearly silent 'click'. Keeping my body closely parallel with the side of the hallway, I slowly eased my way forward, listening to the sounds around me. I at least needed to make it look like I was trying to escape. When I approached in intersection of the hallway, I discreetly poked my head from the safety of my position and looked around. To my left, there was what looked like a pathway that led to some type of control station. I wasn't exactly sure what floor of the craft I was on but I refused to take that path. Controls meant agents, agents plus me equals chaos. I would have the floor after my tail in seconds. I wanted to make a scene but not that big of a scene.

To my right, there was another hall with a series of doors lining the walls and in front, it was the same. Geez, how many damn doors did this place have?

I smiled to myself, amused. Not even thirty feet and I was already at an impasse, typical.

I closed my eyes and decided to rely on my enhanced senses. At least they were good for something. Instead of focusing with my eyes, I focused with my ears, allowing them to do the see for me, so to speak. At first, I heard nothing but after a moment, I heard everything.

Voices, there were voices everywhere. To my right, to my left, ahead of me, they surrounded my mind for what seemed like an endless amount of time. After who knows how long, the voices became manageable and I was able to make sense of things, somewhat.

I had been correct in my earlier reasoning that to my right was a control room of sorts. There were a lot of people there. Maybe twenty or thirty, I couldn't be sure with just my ears. A lot of people and most of them were converging on one social topic. Me.

From what I could make sense of, they were discussing my whereabouts and how exactly they were going to trap and catch me. Some of them considered me a threat; others considered me to be a potential source of knowledge. One voice among all of the cacophonous noise was loudest and the most recognizable, a voice that I apparently, keep encountering.

"I want her captured and detained in her cell down stairs. Do I make myself clear?" Fury demanded.

"Crystal sir." There was a hesitation in the speaker's voice, As if he had more he wanted to say but couldn't. "If I may, permission to speak freely sir?"

"What Hawkeye?" There was a long pause. "Sir, if she is such a threat, why don't we just eliminate her? Not to sound arrogant, but it would be easier." Another pause.

"I have a hunch Hawkeye. She knows far more about this situation than she is letting off."

I gripped the corner of the wall tightly until I felt my fingers shove their way into the drywall. Honestly, I knew only slightly more than they did about these killings and I wished I could convince them of that. But considering the stunt I had just pulled, I would be lucky if I managed to convince them not to kill me.

"What do you mean, sir?"

"She went into that autopsy room for a reason; she examined the body for a reason. She knows something."

A noise, a sharp click, caught my attention then. My attention which was focused on Nick and Hawkeye was ripped away and I whirled around to see a short red head dressed in an identically skin tight suit and a gun cocked and aimed directly towards my chest.

"That won't kill me." I said quietly. She cocked an eyebrow and scowled.

"I'm loaded with silver bullets, I'm pretty sure they'll do some damage." I smiled and rubbed the back of my neck.

"You think I'm a werewolf? That's it little girl, no more Underworld movies for you. I'm guessing you think crosses work on me too? How about holy water? Oh wait, that's vampires. Do they work on both? Obviously you know since you're such an expert." I began backing away slightly, word by word, making sure her attention was on my moving hands (I talked a lot with my hands) instead of my scurrying feet.

"I am no expert in mythology but I'm pretty sure a bullet in the heart will kill just about anything." I smiled sadistically.

"Why don't you pull that trigger and try, fair warning though, I will defend myself." She stared as she considered and I waited. Instinctively, I felt my weight shift to the balls of my feet, getting ready to fight or run or maybe both.

"Well little girl?" I taunted. She smiled and shifted her gun so the muzzle was pointed towards the ceiling.

"I won't shoot you." I moved to run but something caught me around the shoulders, pinning me to a hard chest.

"I don't have to." She said as I looked up and saw Steve. He stared at me with a look that said he was both disappointed and somewhat hurt. I my eyes away from his gaze and turned back to Natasha. She was smiling smugly. I scowled back.

"You should have shot me." I moved my leg and hooked it around Steve's right leg and pulled. As he went down, I didn't something completely complicated that I didn't even know that I could do and slipped from his hold. The crash of his fall was audible and I winced for him. I really didn't want to hurt him but it was that or lose my only opportunity. I have only a limited amount of time left and I had to work with that.

The red head fired off a series of rounds and I waited for the pain but when I whirled to look at her, I saw that her bullets had gone into the ceiling. She didn't want to make me bleed, she wanted to attract attention. She flew at me then, dropping her gun.

I managed to avoid her fist offensive attack but her second, a punch to my neck, landed harshly.

The fight was quick as most serious fights were. She attempted to incapacitate me but in the end, I succeeded in avoiding her grip but did not succeed in noticing the hulking mass of muscle that must have rushed out of the control room. With Blonde hair and blue eyes he was deadly handsome and all around well…deadly.

Thor grabbed me by the wrists and did something complicated. I was on the floor in seconds, his superior strength pinning me to the floor. I tried struggling but immediately stopped when he put pressure on my lower back. It felt like I was about to snap in half when I struggled.

"I do not wish to hurt you but if you present me with the circumstances where I must, I will." Large black boots appeared in my limited line of sight and I looked up as best I could. A black trench coat and black on black attire pretty much gave away who he was.

From behind, a pair of hands grasped my forearms and yanked me to my feet. I shook my head a little to expel the vertigo and smiled pleasantly at the scowling Fury.

"Found me." I said. He honestly looked like he wanted to kill me. I wasn't sure if that was his usual expression or if me was pretty significantly pissed off with me –mind you, I have yet to ever see fury smile- but I would put my bottom dollar on the latter.

"Take her down to her cell, I want her locked in without the slightest hint of escape. Do I make myself transparently clear? Someone behind me replied with an affirmative answer and I was yanked away from Fury. I tried to look behind me and saw that no longer was my warden Thor but I had been traded. Steve held my forearms with a tight, no funny business grip. He was still dressed in the clotehs he had been wearing during training. I wondered how long he had been looking for me.

"Hey Steve." He didn't reply but I never really expected him to. We kept walking and when I would attempt to pause, he would push me forward, forcing me to keep moving. We made it to my cell in no time and once he sat me on the bed, he locked us both in with a key he conjured from what looked like thin air.

He turned so his back was to the door and leaned against it. His arms crossed in front of his massive chest and I focused on a scuff mark on the floor a few feet in front of me so I wouldn't stare. Lord knows I wanted to. They didn't make them like they did in the 20th century anymore.

"Why?"

"Why what?" I was still staring at the floor.

"Why were you in that room?" I wasn't surprised he knew about that. That surveillance video probably went viral around headquarters already.

"You make it sound as if I committed a crime."

"Tampering with evidence usually is."

I narrowed my eyes at the spot on the floor and hunched my shoulders. For some reason, it felt…wrong to have this conversation with him. I kind of wanted him on my side, agreeing with me. But that was illogical; he couldn't agree with me, he didn't know all of the facts.

I looked up, staring at his eyes instead of his chest.

"I think Fury is going to cover that, thanks for asking though. It really shows you care."

"Excuse me, do you expect me to be sympathetic to a cr-" He paused abruptly and I watched as he bit his bottom lip harshly. If he wasn't careful, he would draw blood.

"A what? A criminal?" He looked away from my stare and focused on his own feet.

"I'm not a criminal." I said. "Nor do I have any plans to be."

"Then why tamper with evidence?"

Because that evidence wasn't meant for you, I wanted to say. I couldn't tell him that, I needed to be sure first. I needed to be sure that my hunch was correct. I could only tell SHIELD exactly what they needed to know. I was playing chess, and I have to decide where to move my bishop.

Allow me to explain.

Years ago, when I had still been running from S.H.I.E.L.D, I had been living in a small hole in the wall apartment in India. No electricity, no running water, no air conditioner, if I had wanted the basic necessities, I had to go get them myself. I affectionately nicknamed the apartment "the hole". Months into my stay, I had left the hole for a substantial amount of time, maybe a few days to a week, to look for the flower that was now aiding me. When I got back, the landlord who had sold me a few months stay in the hole was dead, as were two of my neighbors, and my place was trashed.

Nothing had been taken, not there was much to take. The only thing that was different or new was a note that was pinned with a knife right above where I usually slept on a pallet of blankets.

The note had read only three words:

YOU ARE WANTED

Underneath the words, a paw print was pressed into the cheap paper not with ink, but with blood. That image has been on the back of my mind since I was informed about the killings. If was correct, and I am pretty sure I was, whatever force that had been looking for me had found me (or at least where I was living.) and it was looking for me again. Even though I was in a floating ship above the ocean, I was sure it was going to find me again; and this time, in the flesh.

I stood up from the bed in a flurry, I could feel Steve's gaze on me as I turned away from him and towards the bathroom.

"I'm taking a shower." I didn't wait for his approval or opinion. I slammed the door behind me, locked it and turned on the shower. I found it interesting that they even allowed a lock on the door. I didn't focus on that though, I was too busy attempting to induce vomiting.

Two fingers down my throat a few times and I felt my stomach and my throat spasm. It took a few minutes but eventually, the vile and the chip appeared in the toilet. I grimaced as I took them out and rinsed them off in the showerhead. Flushing the toilet, I stripped and stepped into the shower. Might as well get the ass kicking grime off my skin.

When I stepped out, I redressed and tucked my evidence inside of my bra, securely in the bottom on the underwire cup. The flesh of my breast pinned both the vile and the chip there securely without risk of them out.

I wringed my hair, forcing the water out and onto the tile floor; someone could clean it up later. When I finished buttoning my jeans and washed my face as best I could, there was a knock on the door.

"You have better have a good explanation."

I rolled my eyes at Nick's dramatics and stepped out of the bathroom.

"You need to get ready." I said. Nick stared at me with his infamous poker face. I leaned against the door jam and stuffed my hands into my pockets. I was going to make him ask if he liked it or not.

"I'm not in the mood Asha."

"Ask me for what."

"Asha."

"Ask me."

Nick narrowed his eyes and crossed his own arms. He may be a scary guy, but he had a debilitating attribute. His curiosity; he was going to ask.

"Fine. Get ready for what?" I smiled and stared at him directly in the eyes.

"Within the next few days, this headquarters will be attacked, and people will die and I have the evidence to prove it."

Bishop, C-4.


End file.
